The Development of Hindu Iconography c19.s2.12

c19.s2.12

Nirṛti, the lord of the south-west, is a Vedic deity like Yama, Agni and Indra, and is conceived there as a god of evil. The description of Virūpākṣa, the lord of the Rakṣas (Rakṣodhipa), given in chapter 57 of Book III of the Viṣṇudharmottara, has been taken by Hemādri as the characterisation of Nirṛti. But Nirṛti is described by the Purāṇakāra in the same context as the wife of Virūpākṣa (bhāryā ca tasya kartavyā devī Nirṛtitastathā, Nirṛtitā, should be Nirṛti, the metre is corrupt), and Virūpākṣa is of a terrific nature; the author says that Kāla (Time) is Virūpākṣa, and Mṛtyu (death) is Ninṛti or Nirṛti (Kālo prokto Virūpākṣo Mṛtyurhi Nirṛtisathā). Sculptures showing Nirṛti are extremely rare, and so the one from Ahobilam illustrated by Rao is very interesting. It shows the Dikpāla riding on the shoulders of a man who seems to be carrying him forward, and he holds a staff in his right hand (ibid., p. 529, Pl. CLIV, Fig. 2). A relief depicting Nirṛti is in the collection of the Rajshahi Museum; the god is shown here riding on the back of a man (naravāhana) and holds in his two hands a sword and a shield; it hails from North Bengal (DHB, Vol. I, p. 463).